Method of processing silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material

Abstract

A method for processing a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material. The material has, on a support, at least one light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer comprising a light-sensitive silver halide emulsion, a compound that forms a dye by a coupling reaction with a developing agent in an oxidized form, and a binder. The method comprises processing the light-sensitive material such that a silver density of the at least one light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer during development is 4x105 g/m3 or more.

What is claimed is:  
     
       1. A method for processing a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material, having, on a support, at least one light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer containing a light-sensitive silver halide emulsion, a compound capable of forming a dye by a coupling reaction with a developing agent in an oxidized form, and a binder, wherein the method comprises: 
       heat development processing the light-sensitive material without using a processing member such that a silver density of the at least one light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer during development is 4×10 5  g/m 3  or more, and  
       wherein at least one light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer of the light-sensitive material contains a tabular silver halide emulsion having an average grain thickness of 0.01 to 0.07 μm. 
     
     
       2. The method for processing a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material according to  claim 1 , wherein the silver density is 6×10 5  g/m 3  or more. 
     
     
       3. The method for processing a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material according to  claim 1 , wherein the light-sensitive material has a blue-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer containing a yellow coupler, a green-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer containing a magenta coupler, and a red-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer containing a cyan coupler, and each of the blue-sensitive layer, green-sensitive layer, and red-sensitive layer comprises two or more photosensitive layers different in speed. 
     
     
       4. The method for processing a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer of the light-sensitive material contains a light-sensitive silver halide emulsion having an average aspect ratio of 2 or more. 
     
     
       5. The method for processing a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material according to  claim 4 , wherein the average aspect ratio is 8 or more. 
     
     
       6. The method for processing a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one light-sensitive layer of the light-sensitive material contains a developing agent or its precursor. 
     
     
       7. The method for processing a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material according to  claim 6 , wherein the developing agent is selected from compounds represented by formulas (1) to (5) below:                    
       wherein each of R 1  to R 4  independently represents a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group, an alkylcarbonamido group, an arylcarbonamido group, an alkylsulfonamido group, an arylsulfonamido group, an alkoxy group, an aryloxy group, an alkylthio group, an arylthio group, an alkylcarbamoyl group, an arylcarbamoyl group, a carbamoyl group, an alkylsulfamoyl group, an arylsulfamoyl group, a sulfamoyl group, a cyano group, an alkylsulfonyl group, an arylsulfonyl group, an alkoxycarbonyl group, an aryloxycarbonyl group, an alkylcarbonyl group, an arylcarbonyl group or an acyloxy group; R 5  represents a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group, aryl group or heterocyclic group; Z represents an atom group capable of forming an aromatic ring (including a heteroaromatic ring) together with the carbon atom, which aromatic ring may have a substituent other than —NHNHSO 2 —R 5 , provided that when the aromatic ring formed with Z is a benzene ring, the total of Hammett's constants (σ) of the substituents is 1 or more; R 6  represents a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group; X represents an oxygen atom, a sulfur atom, a selenium atom or a tertiary nitrogen atom substituted with an alkyl group or aryl group; and R 7  and R 8  each represent a hydrogen atom or a substituent, provided that R 7  and R 8  may be bonded to each other to thereby form a double bond or a ring.  
     
     
       8. The method for processing a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material according to  claim 6 , wherein the developing agent is a para-phenylenediamine-based color developing agent. 
     
     
       9. The method for processing a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material according to  claim 6 , wherein the precursor of the developing agent is represented by formula (6) below:                    
       wherein each of R 1 , R 2 , R 3  and R 4  independently represents a hydrogen atom or a substituent; each of R 5  and R 6  independently represents an alkyl group, an aryl group, a heterocyclic group, an acyl group or a sulfonyl group; R 1  and R 2 , R 3  and R 4 , R 5  and R 6 , R 2  and R 5 , and/or R 4  and R 6  may be bonded to each other to thereby form a 5-membered, 6-membered or 7-membered ring; and R 7  represents R 11 —O—CO—, R 12 —CO—CO—, R 13 —NH—CO—, R 14 —SO 2 —, R 15 —W—C(R 16 )(R 17 )— or (M) 1/n OSO 2 —, wherein each of R 11 , R 12 , R 13  and R 14  independently represents an alkyl group, an aryl group or a heterocyclic group, R 15  represents a hydrogen atom or a block group, W represents an oxygen atom, a sulfur atom or >N—R 18 , each of R 16 , R 17  and R 18  independently represents a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group, M represents a n-valence cation, and n is an integer of 1 to 5.  
     
     
       10. The method for processing a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one light-sensitive silver halide emulsion contained in the light-sensitive material is a tellurium-sensitized emulsion. 
     
     
       11. The method for processing a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer of the light-sensitive material contains one or more types of fine inorganic grains having a refractive index of 1.62 to 3.30 with respect to light having a wavelength of 500 nm in a dispersing medium phase of the emulsion layer, the total weight % of the fine grains contained in a unit volume of the dispersing medium phase is 1.0 to 95, and the dispersing medium phase containing the fine grains is substantially transparent to light having a wavelength at which the light-sensitivity of the emulsion layer is maximum. 
     
     
       12. The method for processing a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material according to  claim 1 , wherein the light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer contains a light-sensitive silver halide emulsion containing tabular silver halide grains to which sensitizing dyes are adsorbed such that the maximum spectral absorption wavelength is less than 500 nm and the light absorption intensity is 60 or more, or the maximum spectral absorption wavelength is 500 nm or more and the light absorption intensity is 100 or more. 
     
     
       13. The method for processing a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material according to  claim 4 , wherein the light-sensitive silver halide emulsion contains hexagonal tabular grains each of which has a ratio of the length of an edge having a maximum length to the length of an edge having a minimum length of 1 to 2, and the hexagonal tabular grains account for 100 to 50% of the total projected area of all the grains contained in the light-sensitive silver halide emulsion. 
     
     
       14. The method for processing a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material according to  claim 4 , wherein a coefficient variation of distribution of diameters of the projected areas of all the silver halide grains contained in the light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer is 20 to 3%. 
     
     
       15. The method for processing a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material according to  claim 11 , wherein the total weight % of the fine grains contained in a unit volume of the dispersing medium phase is 2 to 60.